Noida: UP govt allocates Rs 2,000 crore for Jewar airport, 900 crore for RRTS project

NOIDA: In big infrastructure projects, the UP government has put its money where its mouth is, allocating in the state budget Rs 2,000 crore for the Jewar intenational airport project and Rs 900 crore for rapid rail (RRTS), the two biggest infrastructure projects currently under way in NCR.
Work on the RRTS corridor, for the Delhi-Meerut section, has begun in Ghaziabad. Land acquisition for the first phase of Jewar airport, which will cost an estimated Rs 4,588 crore to build, is also complete and Swiss aviation giant Zurich AG has been selected as the concessionaire. The greenfield project, which has received central environmental clearance, now awaits security clearance from the Union home ministry. Sources said they were planning a foundation stone-laying ceremony for the airport in April and expected the clearances to come through by then.
The budget allocation of Rs 900 crore for RRTS means the NCR Transport Corporation (NCRTC), which is building the corridor, take the state’s contribution to nearly 15% of its share of Rs 6,500 crore. “The UP government allocating Rs 900 crore for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS project is good for regional connectivity. Last year, the state government had allocated Rs 400 crore,” an NCRTC official said.